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The Viking Report (Sept. 27)
Sept. 27, 2010
Contact: Brian McCann
Complete Release in PDF Format
The Vikings Come Home... Four of the six Viking teams that are in action this week will be at home as the hectic fall pace slows a bit as teams settle into league play. Most of the action comes on Friday night (Oct. 1) when CSU hosts a tripleheader of sorts. The volleyball team (11-1) will be in Woodling Gym for a 7:00 p.m. match against Youngstown State on Friday, its only action of the weekend. At the same time, the women's soccer team will also face Youngstown State at Krenzler Field. It will be the only match of the week for the Vikings, who opened Horizon League play last week by splitting two home matches. The men's soccer team is also at home, hosting Green Bay on Friday (Oct. 1) at 7:00 p.m. at Krenzler Field in the back end of the doubleheader. CSU also faces Milwaukee on Sunday (Oct. 3) at 1:00 p.m. The men's golf team begins the week by playing in the Bowling Green Invitational on Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 27-28 and then returns home to host the Telich Sun Life Financial Cleveland State Invitational at Canterbury Country Club in Beechwood. The tourney begins with a practice round on Sunday, Oct. 3 followed by 36 holes on Monday (Oct. 4) and the final round on Tuesday (Oct. 5). The cross country team continues its tour of Ohio when the Vikings travel to Cedarville for th 2010 All-Ohio Invitational. The 5,000 meter race will begin at 2:45 on Friday, Oct. 1. The men's tennis team will take a break from team tournament play this week but the top of the lineup will see some action when several players take part in the All-American Classic in Tulsa, Okla. At least two members of the squad -- Yannick Goosens and Rob Fox -- will take part in teh tourney, which begins on Saturday, Oct. 2 and features the top players from all-around the country. Volleyball Continues Homestand Against Youngstown State The Cleveland State volleyball team continues its season long five-match homestand when the Vikings host Youngstown State at 7:00 p.m. on Friday (Oct. 1) in Woodling Gym. It is the lone match of the week for CSU, which enters the week at 11-1 overall and 2-1 in Horizon League play after splitting a pair of matches last weekend. The Vikings had their season opening school record 10 match win streak snapped with a 3-2 setback to Milwaukee on Friday (Sept. 24) before coming back to knock off Green Bay, 3-1, on Saturday (Sept. 25). "I think our youth and inexperience showed a bit last week and we kind of tensed up in some key situations," head coach Chuck Voss said. "We are a little banged up with some minor injuries and hopefully the light week will allow us to give some players a little rest so we can be fully healthy as we continue a tough stretch of league play." The Vikings dominated the first set against Milwaukee, hitting .317, but dropped the next two sets to fall behind 2-1. After rallying to win the fourth set, CSU lost the fifth set, 18-16. Kara Koch posted 24 kills and 15 digs, while Brittany Holland notched a career-high 21 digs. CSU dropped the first set against Green Bay, but came back to win the next three. Amy Benz was the offensive star, hitting .444 (15-3-27), while Amy Grabiec made 28 digs. The Vikings continue to play well on both sides of the net, leading the Horizon League in attack percentage (.243) and opponent attack percentage (.130). Women's Soccer Ends Home Stand Against Youngstown State After opening the Horizon League schedule with an understandable split of a pair of home matches, the Vikings (5-5-2) will close out this brief, three-match home stand when they host Youngstown State on Friday, Oct. 1 beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Krenzler Field. The match will pit two of the three teams that did not make the six-team Horizon League Championships last fall but each have opened the year with 1-1 league marks. CSU defeated Green Bay, 1-0, on Friday (Sept. 24) before dropping a 3-0 decision to defending league champion Milwaukee on Sunday (Sept. 26). "This is an important match for us because we need to play well at home in order to move up the league standings," CSU head coach Derrek Falor said. "The win over Green Bay was a good start, now we need to do the same against Youngstown and then focus on playing well on the road. We are capable of not only making the tournament this year, but we want to either host a first round match or get a bye in the tourney." Senior Sylvia Olsby provided the Vikings with the only goal that they needed to defeat Green Bay. It marked the first time in program history that CSU won its league opener. The loss to Milwaukee snapped the Vikings' school-record home unbeaten streak at seven matches. CSU is now 5-1-2 at Krenzler Field this season, guaranteeing them the best winning percentage at home in school history. Men's Soccer Returns Home To Host Green Bay & Milwaukee The CSU men's soccer team (3-5-0, 1-1 HL) begins a five match home stand this weekend. The Vikings will welcome Green Bay to Krenzler on Friday (Oct. 1) in a 4:00 p.m. contest, and will host Milwaukee on Sunday (Oct. 3) at 1:00 p.m. On the line will be Cleveland State's 16 match home undefeated streak. "We'll be facing two tough teams," head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "Green Bay was nationally ranked (29th) in the preseason, and they are a very athletic group. We will have to change our lineup to better match up against their athletes." The Vikings are 13-0-3 at home since the beginning of the 2008 season. Cleveland State is coming off its first weekend of conference play. The Vikings split a pair of matches, falling to Loyola, 3-0, on Sunday (Sept. 26) while defeating UIC, 3-2, on Friday (Sept. 24). After a scoreless first half against UIC, Aslinn Rodas and John Wargo scored twice early in the second half to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead. UIC cut the lead in half, but Aaron Adkins, who had missed the previous four matches with a foot injury, came off the bench and scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal. CSU was also able to hold Loyola scoreless in the first half, but the Ramblers' Eric Nock scored three times in the second half to give Loyola the shutout victory. Men's Golf Returns To Action At Piper Invitational The men's golf team will be back in action on Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 27-28) when the Vikings play in the 54-hole John Piper Invitational at the par-72, 7,064-yard Sand Ridge G.C. Bowling Green will serve as the host of the two-day event. CSU then returns home to host the 2010 Telich Sun Life Financial Cleveland State Invitational at Canterbury Country Club in Beachwood from Oct. 3-5. "We are starting to put some things together and come around as a team," head coach Steve Weir said. "There are positives that we have been able to take away from our early season tournaments are we are continuing to work hard and improve our games." The Vikings placed 14th of 15 teams at the Marshall Invitational in their last event (Sept. 13-14) at the par-71, 6,534-yard Guyan Golf Club. CSU opened with scores of 289 and 290 in the first two rounds before a final round 285 in which three players shot par or better. Senior Kent Monas was the Vikings top finisher, tying for 12th place at 208, including three rounds under par (70-69-69). Sophomore Michael Klaric tied for 52nd with a final round 71, while freshman Andrew Bailey carded a one-under-par 71 in the final round en route to tying for 56th. Cross Country Heads To All-Ohio Invitational The cross country team will return to action on Friday (Oct. 1) when the Vikings compete at the All-Ohio Invitational at the Elvin R. King Cross Country Course in Cedarville, Ohio. It will be the second time the Vikings run on the course this year, having competed at the Friendship Invitational on Sept. 18. "We are excited to go back to a course where we had some success earlier this year," head coach Joe Jaketic said. The All-Ohio event always has a very deep and talented field and this will give us a good barometer of where we are as a team." CSU placed second of four teams at the Ohio Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 25) with 61 points as three harriers recorded times under 20 minutes, a first in school history. Junior Brittany Elmlinger was 13th in 19:30, while Allison Craine placed 15th in 19:38 and junior Kari Haywood was 18th in 19:57. It was the first time Haywood ran under 20 minutes in her career. Junior Kelly Zaleski just missed giving CSU four runners under 20 minutes, finishing 21st in 20:03. Men's Tennis To Send Several Individuals To All-American Championships The men's tennis team will take a break from fall tournament competition this week, but Yannick Goossens and Rob Fox will head to Tulsa, Okla., to compete in the prestigious All-American Championships beginning on Friday (Oct. 1). "This will be a very challenging weekend for our players who are competing," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Every match they play will be against some of the top competition in the country so they will have to come out with a lot of intensity and focus. It will be a good experience for our guys and hopefully they can use some things they learn this weekend as the season moves forward." The Vikings competed in their second fall event of the season at the Bowling Green Invitational from Friday through Sunday (Sept. 24-26), winning a pair of doubles flight championships. The duo of Rob Fox and John Haley combined to win the "A" Flight with an 8-4 win in the championship match against Ball State, while Matt Ford and Chris Klepatz teamed to win the "B" Flight championship title over Butler, 9-8. Women's Tennis To Take Week Off & Prep For Toledo Invitational After competing in two tournaments over the last two weekends, the women's tennis team will be out of action until Cleveland State competes in the Toledo Invitational from Oct.8-10. "We'll use the week off to get a little rest and improve on some things," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We've been able to get some nice wins in both singles and doubles during the first two tournaments and that is hopefully something we can build upon. I like where we are at as a team at this point in the season and I expect us to continue to work hard and improve every time we take the court." The Vikings competed at the Michigan State Invitational over the weekend (Sept. 24-26), winning a singles title and also claiming a consolation championship. Sophomore Mengdi Liu won the Draw "E" singles championship with a 4-0 mark for her second individual title in as many weeks. Liu is now 7-0 this spring and has won all 14 sets that she has played. Freshman Alex Bush also had a successful weekend, winning three straight matches after dropping her opener to claim the consolation championship in the Draw "D" singles bracket. Viking High Fives Mengdi Liu: The Beijing, China, native made it two in a row. After winning her flight championship at Bowling Green last weekend, Liu claimed her second title of the spring by winning her flight at the Michigan State Invitational over the weekend and has won all 14 sets she has played this fall. Kari Haywood: The cross country junior ran the first sub-20 minute time of her career, placing 18th in 19:57 at the Ohio Invitational on Saturday. Brittany Holland: The sophomore defensive specialist made a career-high 21 digs against Milwaukee, shattering her old career-high of 15 set last season. Rob Fox & John Haley: The men's tennis doubles teammates showed the form that helped them win 21 matches last year when they swept all four contests to win the No. 1 Doubles flight at the Ball State Invitational. Aaron Adkins: After missing four matches with an injury, the men's soccer sophomore came off the bench to score the game-winning goal in the second half at UIC on Friday. Welcome back!! This Week's Schedule Sept. 27-28 (Mon.-Tues.) Oct. 1 (Friday) Men's Soccer hosts Green Bay Women's Soccer hosts Youngstown State Volleyball hosts Youngstown State Oct. 2 (Saturday) Oct. 3 (Sunday) Men's Tennis at All-American Classic Men's Golf hosts CSU Invit. (Practice Round) |
